Get Lucky, Gears
by Awesome Will v1
Summary: A Gears of War-Lucky Star crossover. Konata and friends are taken a little bit out of their element, to say the least, when they suddenly find themselves on the unfamiliar world of Sera, learning to survive by the side of Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad.
1. Prelude

Get Lucky, Gears

Chapter 1 - Prelude

* * *

"Yes, I win again!"

Konata Izumi raised her arms in victory. Next to her sat a less-estatic looking Kagami Hiiragi. Kagami put down her controller.

"Yeah, you've only been playing this game for ten hours every day for the last week, after all…" Kagami remarked.

"Wow, Kona-chan, you sure are good at this!" Next to Kagami sat her twin sister, Tsukasa. She smiled excitedly.

"Yeah, these shooting games are the best, I've been unbeatable online!" Konata bragged proudly. "'Course, the servers are kinda slow, since it's a foreign game, and at that it's kind of a niche one."

"A niche game, huh?" Kagami asked. "Yeah, I could see why, some of these enemies in the story mode seemed a bit strange… I mean, there's a fat guy, a fat guy with long hair, and a fat guy with long hair and tan skin…"

"Yeah, definitely not made for the mainstream…" Konata continued as Kagami handed over her controller to Tsukasa. "But if I imported one of those mainstream foreign shooters I'd feel like I was just jumping on the bandwagon, y'know?"

"That's okay if the games are fun though…" Tsukasa reasoned as she controlled her character. She suddenly gasped. "Ah! What happened? My character's dead, oh no!"

Konata chuckled. "It's called a headshot, Tsukasa, and it's an instant kill!"

"Oh, my poor little guy…" Tsukasa sadly said as Konata once again looked happy in victory.

"Sometimes I wish I could be part of something like this…." Konata thought aloud. "I mean, wouldn't it be so cool if you could be diving around, guns ablaze, taking out everything in your path, and standing victorious at the end?"

"Okay, you've always been a bit out there, but now you're just plain talking crazy." Kagami said, though the look on Konata's face indicated that this did nothing to hamper her enthusiasm. "You wouldn't do it for the same reason you wouldn't go challenging people to fights after playing a fighting game, the real thing's not fun like the game. In a street fight you could get your bones broken, in a real gun fight a single bullet could-"

"Come on, Tsukasa, this is co-op, take down the enemies!" Konata pleaded.

"I can't, those little ones are so cute, I wouldn't feel right shooting them!"

"They're just midgets, evil midgets! Fire away!"

"STOP IGNORING ME!" Kagami shouted.

Konata looked over. "Huh? You say something, Kagami?"

"Oh, never mind…"  
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

"Damn, where is Baird with that APC? We've gotta get going…"

Marcus Fenix paced impatiently across an area that seemed to a barren wasteland. He stopped and looked down at a very large metal chest, marked 'COG' with literal cogs sculpted onto the design. "Damn Prescott and his orders, we could've taken out about a hundred grubs by now…"

Marcus felt a hand on his shoulder. "Hey man, that just means we gotta kill 'em twice as fast, right? Let's make it a race, whoooooo!"

Augustus "Cole Train" Cole was standing next to Marcus, a positive look on his face. Though this didn't remotely elicit a smile in Marcus, it did seem to soften his expression a bit.

"I'm just a little ticked off at Prescott's new little "decree" is all…" Marcus grumbled. "We can't even travel by foot like we're used to, because we gotta bring all this crap in case we find any able-bodied person to assist? Like any of the stranded we find are gonna willfully put on some armor, grab a gun and charge into the Locust army with us."

"Baird just radioed us though," Cole said. "He's pretty close, should only be a few minutes. You might wanna go check on Dom, though. He's still lookin' sad in there…"

Marcus let out a sigh. "Yeah, ever since Jacinto sunk and we didn't see battle for a few days, he's slowly started to slip away…"

"Can't blame 'im" Cole said, shaking his head. "Losing Maria like that, the fighting probably kept his mind off it, and killin' all them Locust probably gave him some relief, ya know, like he was killin' them for her. Now he's just sittin' there, thinkin' about it…"

"Yeah, he's dealt with a lot, and that's saying a lot with everything our soldiers have lost…" Marcus said. He turned and walked off.

After a few seconds, he stopped as he saw his best friend and fellow Gear, Dominic Santiago, sitting on the floor. His face now had quite a bit of facial hair, forming a rather thick beard on his face. He looked forlorn, just staring out into space.

"Dom, you alright?" Marcus asked, sitting down on the ground beside him.

"What do you think?" Dom asked, still not looking over at Marcus, his eyes still affixed on the empty, early night sky.

"Sorry," Marcus said.

Dom let out a sigh. "S'alright. Just… the more I think about it, the more it gets to me… I want to kill every last one of those sons of bitches… but I know it won't bring her back…"

Marcus looked at his saddened friend, not saying much. There was a sudden beep. Marcus reached for a radio at his side and brought it to his face. "Fenix, here."

"Hey, Marcus, it's Baird." The voice on the other end came. "I've got the APC and I'm right around the corner, you got everything we need to load into it?"

"Yeah… unfortunately…" Marcus bitterly griped. He stood up. "You gonna come? I'd understand if you don't want to."

"Nah, I'm coming." Dom reached a few inches over and grabbed his Lancer Assault Rifle and stood up. "I'm not missing this chance."

"Yeah, baby!" Cole suddenly exclaimed, putting an arm on each of his teammates' shoulders. A bright light shined on them, signaling the arrival of a large vehicle. "Let's get it goin'!"  
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Konata, Kagami and Tsukasa were headed out of the front door of the Izumi residence.

"Konata, did you even listen to anything I said?" Kagami asked as Konata reached for the door.

"Oh, you mean about which end of the chocolate coronet was the head and which one was the tail?" Konata asked. "I thought we agreed to disagree."

"That was almost two years ago!" Kagami exclaimed angrily.

"Konata, where are you headed off to?" A man's voice called from inside the house.

"We're meeting up with Miyuki for lunch, dad." Konata replied.

"Bring me back some chocolate coronets, alright?" His voice called.

Tsukasa chuckled a little. "Your dad never misses a conversation about food?"

"Personally, I don't think he heard us." Konata replied as Tsukasa was the last one out and shut the door. They stopped walking, Konata standing there, looking as if she was thinking hard. "I think we have a special father-daughter telepathic connection, when I think something, a similar thought pops into his head, and vice-versa. It must be why whenever I want to play one of his dating sims, he's already on it."

"You know, it always did seem like you and your dad has a special connection…" Tsukasa pondered as the three started walking. "I think my older sisters have the same connection, except they know when I leave my desserts alone and then they steal the cherry or strawberry on top."

"I don't think that's a connection, Tsukasa," Konata replied. "I think that's just your older sisters wanting some of your dessert."

Tsukasa smiled. "Well, I guess that might be right…"

"Good afternoon, everyone"

Standing in front of them was their classmate, Miyuki Takara. She smiled as she adjusted her glasses.

"Hey, Yuki-Chan!" Tsukasa greeted her.

"Hey, Miyuki." Kagami said. "You look a little worn out."

"Oh, yes…" Miyuki suddenly looked embarrassed, her face blushing a bit. "I was ready to leave, but then before I left the house I tripped and dropped the plates from my breakfast when I went to go put them in the dishwasher… and the worst part is, I didn't want the curry from two days before to go to waste, so I had it with my breakfast… the mess was terrible…"

"Whoa, curry for breakfast?" Konata said, suddenly perking up. "That sounds like something my dad would come up with!"

"Yes, I know it's unusual…." Miyuki continued. "Anyway, that made me late, and I had to catch a later train, and I had to walk as fast as I could to get here."

"You didn't have to rush for us, Miyuki." Kagami said.

"But I would've felt terrible if I made you all late for lunch." Miyuki replied. "I know that you've all been waiting, and you must be hu-" She was suddenly interrupted by the loud sound of a growling stomach. She turned red again as she realized it was her own. "Oh, my, excuse me!"

"Looks like Yuki-chan's hungry." Konata commented through a smirk.

Marcus, Cole and Dom now sat inside of the large vehicle. In the front seat sat Damon Baird, steering the vehicle.

"So, Marcus." Baird began, "What this bull-crap that Prescott's pushing on us?"

"He made this new decree that with our numbers being reduced, we have to get every able-bodied man, woman and child that's willing to join us into the force." He responded. "Now we can't even go on foot like usual, because we gotta lug all this armor and weaponry to give to everyone who's willing to help, which I'd bet is gonna be no one…" And of course, we're the first ones they're giving the job to, because of all our experience… we're the guinea pigs."

"Good to know they're rewarding us for all of our hard work." Baird quipped from up front.

"We don't have any other missions besides that, and the usual orders to kill all of the Locust we come across…"

"Heh heh, that part sounds pretty good to me." Chuckled Cole. "Least we ain't in an old Derrick that's gonna get cut in half, again."

"Speaking of oil derricks…" Marcus reached for a radio. "Dizzy, come in, you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here." The Southern-accented voice of Dizzy came through the radio.

"How's your recruitment of the stranded going?"

"Ain't goin' too good, I'll tell ya… I don't know why those idiots thought they were gonna listen to me, they ain't gonna wanna join us for nothin'… I might as well walk up to 'em with my thumb up my ass and then offer 'em a handshake!"

"Thanks for that visual." Baird remarked while leaning in towards the radio.

As they continued driving along, a white, goggle-wearing creature stared at them from a distance away. "Hoooosstiiiiiles…" It hissed in a monster-like voice.

Dizzy continued through the radio. "Anyway, I'm gonna see If I can't find the wife and kids, and if I don't have any luck, I'm going straight back to the new Jacinto place, whatever they're callin' it now"

"Best of luck to you, Dizzy." Marcus replied.

The APC suddenly began to rock wildly.

"What in the world?" Baird said.

Marcus peered out the window. "Looks like we've got company…"

There were several Locust drones lined up, aiming their assault rifles and pistols, firing away at the APC. The APC began to move around, smoke now rising from where the engine was.

Baird slammed on the brakes. "Alright, looks like we've got some work to do."

"Yeah, baby!" Cole reached into his holster for a Snub Pistol.

Marcus turned around. "Hey, Dom, are you good to-" He stopped as he realized Dom wasn't there. "Dom?"

Dom was already charging into the battlefield, his Gnasher shotgun drawn. He charged straight at the Locust drones, seemingly ignoring all the assault rifle rounds that were hitting him. Dom reached the front lines and lifted his shotgun, blasting one of the drones to pieces with ease. He turned and smacked another in the head with the weapon, then did a second time, dropping the drone to its knees. Another drone came rushing in, its revolver-like Boltok Pistol drawn. Dom turned and fired the shotgun, destroying its head with the single shot. He turned back to the Locust he had attacked with melee strikes, and raised his foot, bringing it down on the Locust, smashing it to the ground with a sickening crunch.

Marcus, Baird and Cole were in awe of Dom single-handedly demolishing the herd of drones.

A rumbling began in the ground, and a hole opened a few feet away from where Dom was battling the Locust. Several more crawled out, these fairly bigger and with a more rugged looking skin, either with armor or bare-chested.

"Looks like the stronger ones just got delayed a bit…" Marcus picked up his Lancer. "Let's get in there!"

Marcus, Baird and Cole charged in with their guns, battling the Locust as they had so many times before.

Meanwhile, a fair bit away, the Locust Hollow was buzzing.

A long line of Locust was walking double file. These were the Kantus, dressed in clothes that resembled robes, a lack of boots and a distinct looking helmet.

They filed into a large room and stood, there, all looking in the same direction.

"You have arrived, as I have asked…"

At the front of the room walked the more human-like, yet bizarre looking Queen Myrrah. A concerned expression on her humanoid face, she paced back and forth. "Skorge… is dead."

The Kantus immediately began to chatter in their hissing voices.

"Skorge was killed by the same group of humans that dared to enter the Hollow, without fear, without concern of what would happen to them. Those humans will be the ones who suffer the most, when the war is finally brought to the end. Now, my Kantus, I brought you all here for one reason: to pray. Fourteen years ago, the Kantus sect prayed for what we deserved, and we got what we wanted: It was Emergence Day, and soon after, we had the Riftworm. So now, I ask all Kantus to pray, to pray for something that will surely lead this war to its conclusion, something that will light the fire of those who will be victorious to bring swift end to the enemy. It is through your prayer that the humans will finally be extinguished… for good."

The room full of Kantus immediately dropped to one knee each. The began to emit a hissing chant, all in eerie unison. The row of Kantus in the front stood up and each reached to their side, producing a grenade. They each planted it into the floor, and at the same team, the grenades exploded, sending Ink all over the place.

The eerie chanting continued for several more minutes. Then, one by one, they stood up, each emitting a horrible screech, one after the other.

The Queen looked upon her clergy, a stoic look remaining on her face. "This war is as good as done… thank you, my Kantus."  
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

"Hey, Konata." Kagami suddenly said among the group now sitting at a restaurant table. "How come you didn't point out that Miyuki tripping and dropping her dishes was part of her moe appeal like usual?"

Konata let out a huge gasp. "Oh my gosh! You're right!" She exclaimed dramatically. "I'm slipping! Nooooo!" She dropped the side of her head down onto the table.

"Uh… okay…" Kagami said, Tsukasa and Miyuki giggling through it.

The group now stood up, having finished their lunch.

"Hey, sis," Tsukasa began as they all headed for the door. "What was it you were saying to Kona-chan back when we were at her house?"

"Mm…." Kagami muttered. "Are you gonna listen this time?"

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Konata asked casually.

"Alright, alright… well, when you were playing that shooting game of yours, you were saying how cool you thought it would be to be involved in a real scenario like that. But in something like that, your life is on the line."

"Well, I guess you're right about that…" Konata replied. "But come on, Kagami, every gamer thinks about how cool it would be if they were the one on the screen fighting, you know? It didn't really mean I wanna be on a battlefield in a life-or-death fight.."

"There is always games like that, like paintball." Miyuki said. "My family has done it two years in a row. Except the first time I didn't really know how to work the gun and I got eliminated in the first couple of minutes…"

"That's our Yuki-chan!" Konata chuckled. "But there are games I would like to actually do… I mean, imagine the four of us running in with giant swords, fighting against huge dragons, and collecting our prizes at the end?"

"Now you lost me again." Said Kagami.

"Hey, what is that?" Tsukasa interrupted.

The girls looked up to see a cloud of black, purple and green seemingly coming up from the ground.

"Is it just me, or does it seem like we're the only ones who notice it?" Konata asked. And indeed, many people were just walking by it, and no one in the general area was looking at it. "Let's take a closer look."

"This feels kinda weird, I'm not sure we should…" Tsukasa fretted as Konata walked fearlessly towards the strange sight. Kagami and Miyuki were reluctantly following. "H-hey! Wait for me!"

Konata walked up to it. "Whoa, weir-" She began coughing heavily. "Oh, what is that?"

"Are you alright, Konata?" Miyuki asked as she, Kagami and Tsukasa hurried to catch up with her. They too, began to cough as well. The strange colored smoke suddenly began to expand with a loud whooshing sound, covering the four girls.

"Wha-what the?" Konata gasped. The four now looked absolutely terrified, unsure of what was going on.

The cloud enveloped them completely as it expanded. The girls screamed, but still, not a single person even glanced over. The cloud enveloped the four of them…

And they were gone.

Konata opened her eyes, having had them clenched tightly previously. She looked around and saw only a wasteland, scorched earth and no plant life whatsoever. She looked up at the bleak-looking sky. "What… what just happened?"

"That weird smoke just covered us and then I don't know what happened next…" Kagami rubbed her eyes. "At least we stopped coughing…"

The four got back to their feet, all of them now wearing uneasy expressions on their faces.

Tsukasa suddenly looked much more nervous. "Um… does anyone else hear anything?"

There were a few loud thuds. The group slowly turned around to look directly behind them.

There, only a few feet away, stood a Locust Grenadier. It was holding a Hammerburst Assault Rifle in its hands, its cold eyes locked onto the four girls.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Tsukasa and Miyuki screamed at the top of their lungs, shaking uncontrollably. Konata and Kagami just stared, apparently too afraid to scream.

The Grenadier stomped towards them. "Freeeesh meeeeeat…"


	2. Encounter

Get Lucky, Gears

Chapter 2 - Encounter

* * *

The girls stood trembling. The Grenadier closed in on them, gripping its assault rifle in its hands.

The Locust chuckled evilly as it lifted the barrel of its gun.

A loud pop followed. The girls looked up to see the Locust's head suddenly burst. The remains of its head landed near Tsukasa and Miyuki, who let out another scream.

"Sorry 'bout the brains!"

Baird came running up to the scene, a sniper rifle in his hands. He walked up to where the Grenadier's headless body now lay on the ground. He looked at the four terrified girls.

"Hey, what are you kids doing out here?" Baird asked. "Don't you know that its dangerous?"

"We kind of… don't know where we even are…" Kagami said weakly, still recovering from the shock of the situation. "What in the world was that thing?"

"Are you serious?" Baird asked. "Did the COG miss a section of humans or something? You don't recognize a Locust and you're dressed like… that?"

"Like this?" Konata suddenly looked offended. "You're wearing speakers over your chest! What in the world is going on here?"

Baird sighed. "Damn kids have to be pulling a prank on me or something… alright, I don't really have time for this, I need you to come with me and we'll figure things out for you later."

"Hey, my dad says never to go with strangers." Konata poignantly said. "He said that you never know who's into lolicon these days… of course, you do kind of look like the shonen type who aren't usually into that."

Baird just stared blankly. "Alright, I don't know what the hell you're talking about, just come with me, otherwise you won't last five minutes out here."

"Well, I suppose we should trust him…" Miyuki reasoned. "He did just save our lives…"

"By the way, you can call me Baird." Baird continued. "Everyone else does. Come on, the rest of my squad's over there, we'll figure out what to do."

Baird turned and walked back towards where he came from. Reluctantly, the four girls followed.

"Here comes Baird." Cole informed Marcus. They and Dom now stood, with dozens of Locust corpses now littering the ground. "Of course, he's gotta be the show off and go for one stupid- hey, what the? Is he being followed by a bunch of wretches and not realize it?"

Marcus and Dom both looked over. "No…" Marcus said. "I think they're… kids…"

"Out here? How?" Cole asked.

"Hey, everyone." Baird arrived. "I found these kids out there about to be attacked by a Locust… they say they have no idea where we are or what the Locust are."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Konata interrupted. "We're not kids, all of us just had our eighteenth birthdays earlier this year. We're all official adults!"

Marcus, Baird and Cole all looked dumbfounded by this.

"You look more like you're twelve…" He commented. "Maybe thirteen."

"She's telling the truth." Kagami cut in. "Konata's just short for her age… really short… anyway, I'm Kagami Hiiragi, and this is my sister Tsukasa."

"Hi…" Tsukasa said timidly, holding up her hand.

"My name's Miyuki Takara." Miyuki said, bowing slightly.

"And I'm Konata Izumi!" Konata said, pointing to herself. "I bet I can figure out your group… the guy with the blonde hair and goggles is obviously the shonen type, so he must be the leader right?"

"Um… what?" Marcus asked.

"And you've got all those scars on your face and you look older than everyone else, you must be the grizzled old veteran that helps the team through its inexperience! And this really huge guy with the muscles is the lightning bruiser that comes in with brute power and beats everyone! And the guy over there who isn't saying anything must be the strong, silent one who cuts in with his wisdom when the team needs it!"

Dom peered over a bit from this description, but then went back to looking as aloof as he did before.

"You're a little mixed up about that, kid…" Marcus looked very grumpy now, and it seemed as if he was holding back in what he wanted to say. "My name's Marcus Fenix, and I'm the Sergeant, I'm in charge here."

"You got my description right, though." Cole exclaimed. "I'm the Augustus Cole, but you can call me the Cole Train! Whoo!"

"That's Dom over there… he's not quite feeling himself lately." Marcus told them, dropping the volume of his voice.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Tsukasa suddenly screamed.

The Gears suddenly started looking around, holding their weapons "What did you see?"

"Th-that!" She cried, pointing to the pile of dead Locust on the ground. "What's going on here?"

"That's what I was telling you…" Baird told Marcus. "They don't recognize the Locust at all, they're dressed weird, they don't even know where they are."

"Yeah, we saw some weird cloud while we were walking around back in our home town," Konata began. "Then all of a sudden we all woke up on the ground here, and that huge monster was coming towards us, then goggles man saved us from it!"

"Are you sure they didn't just get lost after Jacinto sank and they're not just messing with you?" Marcus asked.

"Jacinto?" Kagami asked. "What's that?"

"Um… perhaps it's a foreign word for Japan?" Miyuki asked, looking as if she was trying hard to come up with an explanation.

"What in the world is a 'japan'?" Asked Baird.

"Oh, man, we really aren't at home…" Konata fretted.

"Alright, I don't know what exactly is going on, but it looks like you're with us until we can get you back to where they're making a new human establishment." Marcus said. "If we come across more of those things, just stay back, and don't get involved."

"Hey, Marcus…" Baird began.

"No, no, no." Marcus cut him off. "I know what you're thinking, and I'm not going to give them weapons and armor, look how tiny they are!"

"Isn't that our order from our… 'beloved' chairman?" Baird asked. "Besides, they're apparently adults, they should be able to handle it."

"Baird, the one with the glasses is the only one that even looks like she's over five feet tall!"

"Look, all I'm saying is, they're adults… well, they say so anyway…" Baird glanced over to them again, trying to figure it out. "We don't know how long we're gonna be stuck with them, and having eight gunners is better than four if we're getting rushed by the hundreds."

"Come on, the little one looks like an accident waiting to happen…" Marcus commented, looking over to Konata. Konata was excitedly looking at Cole's upper body armor, with Cole happily showing off the different parts to it. "She gets a Boomshot, we could be dead. We can't be babysitting, Baird."

Baird sighed. "All right, all right. You might wanna give it some thought though."

"In the meantime, let's get rolling." Marcus headed back towards the APC. "Alright, team, we're moving out. The four of you are gonna have to come with us."

"You mean we get to ride in the tank?" Konata exclaimed excitedly. She ran up to it. "This is so cool! Where are the rocket launchers on this?"

"There are none, kid…" Marcus said grumpily.

"Sorry, she's a little overenthusiastic." Kagami said to Marcus. "Trust me, the rest of us have a little more sense than Konata does."

"Oh, wow, look how big these lights are!" Tsukasa happily called from in front of the APC, looking into the lights with an amazed expression on her face.

Kagami let out a sigh. "Oh, sis…"

"Hey… where are we?"

"I don't know, but I'd be willing to bet that wherever we are, it's your fault."

"Wha- my fault? Why? How?"

"It's always your fault. I knew your incompetence would screw us big time one day…"

The darkness surrounding the two voices suddenly lit up.

"Finally, we can see…"

Wearing her trademark oversized school uniform, her hair a mess and an annoyed look on her face, Akira Kogami stood up, looking around at the dim, stone structures.

"What is this place?"

Next to her stood up her assistant, Minoru Shirashi. His black uniform was now looking unkempt, as was is now messy hair. "That landing sure hurt…" He complained, rubbing his right shoulder. "Ouch…"

"Man, this place is old looking…" Akira complained as the two walked around. "Everything's made of rocks, and it's lit up with lanterns. Did you drive so badly you sent us back in time?"

"What do you mean, drive?" Minoru asked, surprised. "I don't even have a license!"

"I guess that's why you're such a bad driver then…"

"I wasn't driving!"

A sudden loud hissing rang out near them.

Akira looked around. "What the…"

"Um… Akira-sama…?"

"What is it?" Akira asked irritably.

"Be… behind us…"

Akira turned around to face what Minoru had already seen - a Locust Kantus standing next to them. Towering over them by quite a bit, it looked down at them, a cold stare affixed to its face.

"What the hell is that?" Akira exclaimed.

"How should I know?" Minoru screamed. The two of them stepped back slowly, visibly shaking.

The Kantus reached at its side and grabbed a rather large pistol, aiming it directly at the two of them.

"Cease right now!"

Queen Myrrah's voice rang out, calling the Kantus' attention away.

"Do not harm these humans. Have them escorted to me at once."

The Kantus let out a very quiet snarl, putting its pistol back into the holster on its side. It took a step back as two Drones walked up, each holding a Hammerburst Assault Rifle.

"Coooome…" Growled one of the Drones, walking up to the Lucky Channel duo.

"Let's just do what they say…" Minoru quietly whispered to Akira, the duo walking forward and the Drones directly behind them.

"Great plan, I didn't think of that…" Akira sarcastically responded.

Konata and her friends were now settled into the APC, along with the four Gears.

"So, where are we going?" Konata asked curiously.

"Well, officially our mission is to find and recruit anyone left on the planet to get involved with the war." Marcus replied. "But unofficially, we don't give a damn about what Prescott says, we're taking out as much Locust as we can. We know after we killed Skorge that they're comin' for us."

"So, pardon me for asking…" Miyuki started. "But… what is it that's happening here? And where are we?"

"Well, I don't know exactly where you're from, but I'll tell you that this planet is called Sera." Marcus began. "The human population's at war with those things, they're called the Locust. They've done more damage than we'd even want to talk about…" He continued, looking over at the still-silent Dom, sitting away from everyone else. "We've had to destroy our last remaining safe haven, Jacinto. If we don't make some progress soon, humanity's done for."

Kagami, Tsukasa and Miyuki all looked shocked now.

"So now you guys are gonna whoop them, right?" Konata asked excitedly.

Cole blinked, looking a bit confused. "Uh… YEAH! We gonna take 'em all down!"

"Um, guys, I think Konata's kinda losing it…" Kagami whispered to Tsukasa and Miyuki. "She's always been out there, but she just heard that and isn't phased in the least bit!"

"Yeah, it's like Kona-chan thinks she's really in a game…" Tsukasa agreed. "I don't think she realizes what's going on."

"Perhaps she just feels that there isn't any point in worrying until we're sure what's happening?" Miyuki asked. She let out a small gasp as the car hit a bump, moving her glasses out of her eyes.

"You know, I really don't think so…"

"Ah, crap." Baird groaned from the front seat. "We've got company…"

Baird suddenly slammed on the brakes of the APC. An Emergence Hole burst open in the ground beneath the APC, causing it to fall back.

The four girls all let out a scream, the Gears holding on.

Several Locust began climbing out of the hole, wasting no time in turning their guns to the APC and firing.

"Damn it, they're shooting at the APC!" Marcus yelled. "Alright, let's get out there, we have to get their fire away from it! You four, just stay here and hold tight!"

"Is there anything we can do?" Tsukasa asked, her uneasiness nonetheless not hidden very well.

"No, just stay put." Marcus replied, heading for the door after Cole, Baird and Dom had exited. "If this thing starts to overheat, get out and run away as fast as you can."

The four watched as Marcus leapt out of the vehicle and joined them. The Gears all went after the Locust immediately, firing their weapons, eliminating them as fast as they could. More Locust continued to crawl out of the Emergence Hole through all of this.

"They're still shooting the APC!" Cole called out as he observed that many Locust were in fact, still firing on the vehicle, even until they were taken down by one of the Gears.

"Anyone got a Frag?" Marcus yelled, driving his revved chainsaw bayonet into one Locust, sending a gruesome splatter of blood across the ground.

Dom reached at his side and pulled out the red and black Frag Grenade. "Throwing Frag!" He called, tossing the grenade in the Locust's direction and diving back. The others fell back as it exploded, filling the Emergence Hole with debris and blowing back several more.

Dom aimed his Shotgun at one of the Locust Drones and fired, hitting its legs and dropping it to the ground. He marched over and silently raised one leg, stomping it into the ground. "That's the last of these."

"BOOM!"

A large explosion came flying at the Gears. They let out a yell as they dove to avoid it. An enormous Locust was now walking up, holding a very large gun in its hand.

"Crap, Boomers." Marcus grumbled as several more identical to it marched up. "What in the hell are they doing sending a force like this to the middle of nowhere?"

Cole stepped up beside Marcus, his Snub Pistol in his hand. Baird stepped up with his Longshot Rifle and Dom mounted his Gnasher Shotgun onto his back, switching to his Hammerburst Assault Rifle.

"Let's do this." Marcus growled.

The four fired their guns at the incoming force of Boomers. The gigantic Locust continued marching forward, only a few of them falling.

"BOOM!"

"BOOM!"

Two more shots came flying from the Boomers. One of them hit the ground near the four soldiers, knocking them back. The second shot crashed into the APC. Several large pieces of the vehicle shot into the air, small flames forming where it had hit.

The four girls screamed loudly, now completely terrified.

"Oh my gosh what do we do?" Tsukasa cried.

"The guy with the scarred face told us to get out and run, so let's do it!" Konata said. She pushed the door open and leapt out, followed by Kagami, Tsukasa and Miyuki.

Marcus looked back while continuing his Lancer fire on the Boomers. "At least they listened…" He turned to the others. "Alright, it's time to finish this before the APC gets hit again. Dom, got any more grenades?"

"Yeah, one more." Dom replied, grabbing the grenade at his side. "Sure I should use it now?"

"Now's a better time than any." Marcus replied.

Dom nodded. "Throwing Frag!"

Akira and Minoru arrived in front of a large door, with the two Locust Drones standing directly behind them. The large door swung open, revealing the Queen's lair. The two Locust pushed at Akira and Minoru with their guns.

"Alright, alright, we got it…" Akira said irritably.

They walked down the room, arriving where the Queen now stood.

Queen Myrrah looked at the two of them, who now wore expressions of shock on their face.

"What is… is… that?" Minoru struggled to say.

Myrrah quietly looked at the two of them, the duo just staring, shocked.

"I can assume by the bizarre styles of dress and the fur on your heads, that you humans are not from Sera, are you?"

"Who are you calling bizarre, you're the one with the squid on your back…" Akira quietly complained.

"I think that perhaps I could use the two of you…" Myrrah began pacing. "It appears that your appearance is not coincidental. Now, what is it you two call yourselves?"

Akira looked around nervously, then suddenly cleared her throat. "Hi, I'm Akira Kogami!" She said, her voice now becoming sweet-sounding and higher pitched. "This is my assistant, Minoru Shiraishi! We're the hosts of Lucky Channel, but we're a little lost now, too bad it's all Shiraishi's fault!"

"Oh, it's true, I'm sorry, Akira-sama!" He said, bowing apologetically. "Hey, wait, what am I saying?"

"Silence, the both of you!" Myrrah interrupted. The two stopped and looked up. "My Kantus have prayed for something that will bring about the end of the war, and swiftly. It would seem that you two arriving would be perfect timing. Now, I shall use you as I see fit!"

"Oh, we'd love to help, but I'm afraid that we have to be on set early tomorrow!" Akira happily said. "Sorry, maybe we'll come by tomorrow! Bye-ni!" She waved energetically and then turned round, only to walk directly into one of the Drones.

"I'm afraid you don't understand…" Myrrah said as the two Drones seized Akira and Minoru. "However, that soon won't be an issue…"

"Ahh!" Minoru screeched, his voice becoming frantic. "Akira-sama, if we're going to die now, I just want you to know that even though you're mean to me I'm still glad to have known you happy we can at least die together!"

Akira sighed. "Shut up, idiot…"

The two Drones led the two of them out the door.

"BOO-"

The Boomer was cut off by Marcus' Lancer fire finally taking it down, the Boomer falling lifelessly to the ground.

"That's the last one." Baird confidently said.

"Good," Marcus said, putting his Lancer away. "Now let's get the hell out of here…"

The four of them started towards the APC, only to be interrupted by a scream.

"What the?"

The four girls were screaming at the top of their lungs, as several Locust crawled out of a freshly made Emergence Hole, only a few feet in front of them.

"Move, NOW!" Marcus yelled, running towards the Emergence Hole, firing his Lancer frantically at them.

"There's… so many of them!" Konata gasped.

"I think that we might not have fully grasped how big their problem really is…" Miyuki said nervously as the four of them walked away.

"Um, guys?" Baird began, looking in the direction they had just come from. "There's more of them advancing from over there!"

"What?" Marcus yelled, gunning down another Drone. "This doesn't make any sense, why are they coming here!"

"I don't think we have a choice, now." Cole slugged one of the Drones with his Pistol, dropping it to the floor.

"Fine…" Marcus begrudgingly turned to the girls. "You four… you're gonna have to fight!"


	3. Combat

**Get Lucky, Gears**

**Chapter 3 - Combat**

* * *

Konata, Kagami, Tsukasa and Miyuki wore a stunned expression on their faces.

"What… what?" Kagami asked, apparently unable to express any other thought.

Marcus walked over. "Look, the last thing I want to do is to have a bunch of small girls fighting with us, but with the way it's going, Marcus turned around. "Cole, grab everything from the APC."

"Alright." Cole opened the door and went inside.

"Oh, wow…" Tsukasa said, looking around nervously. "This is really…"

"COOL!" Konata cut in. "We're gonna kick some bad guy butt now!"

"This isn't a game, Izumi!" Marcus interjected. "First of all, you four are staying back, the Gears and I will be on the frontline. Don't go any closer than you need to, and if we tell you to run, you need to do it, alright?"

Cole emerged from the APC, dragging the large box filled with equipment. He kicked off the top, revealing several suits of armor, helmets and various weapons. "Here we go!"

"Baird, how far are the incoming army?" Marcus asked.

Baird had a pair of binoculars up to his eyes, looking over the horizons. "They're sending some Boomers, and it looks like some of the Drone-classes, and it looks like they've got some Wretches too. And- ah, hell, a Kantus. I'd say we've got only a few minutes at the most before we have to start shooting."

"Alright, an Emergence Hole could open up at any minute, so let's be quick." Marcus walked over to the box, followed by the girls. "Do any of you know how to use a weapon?"

"Oh, I'm an expert at it!" Konata raised her hands. "At every festival I win the prizes for knocking down the targets with the guns! Ooh, and at the arcade I'm the master of the shooting games!"

"Well, this ain't no arcade game, but at least you know what you're doing. What about you three?"

"Well, I have a little bit of experience, but not with actual ammunition…" Miyuki began. "I've played a mock combat game, so I do have a little bit of an idea…"

"Tsukasa and I have played the arcade and festival games Konata has, but that's about it." Kagami said. "I don't think it measures up to real guns, though, right?"

"I'd doubt it." Marcus replied.

Konata dug into the box and pulled out a Lancer. "Whoa, cool, this has a blade o-wh, whoa!" She tripped and fell over, dropping the Lancer on the ground. "Ow."

"I think that's gonna be a little heavy for you." Marcus said. "Try this." He reached into the box and pulled out a Snub Pistol. Konata stood up, and Marcus tossed it to her, followed by a small box marked 'SNUB' on the front. "It's called a Snub Pistol, completely manual. You have to fire each shot individually. Think you can handle that?"

"Oh yeah." Konata smiled. She opened up the small box to see bullets inside of it.

"Alright, here's another one." He took out another pistol, this one looking more like a revolver. "This is a Boltok Pistol. It's more powerful, and it fires slowly. It only holds a few rounds, so whoever has it's gotta be careful with it. Here." He handed it to Tsukasa.

"No offense, sis, but if you have to be careful, maybe I should take this one. "Kagami said, reaching for the pistol.

"Well, I guess you're right." Tsukasa chuckled.

"I don't think you'll have time to equip armor just yet, so stay back, and-AH, SHIT!" Marcus said. They looked up to see several Reavers flying through the air, coming down towards them. "REAVERS!"

"Whoa, they look like giant squids!" Konata exclaimed. "Or something from one of my dad's games…"

"Please don't tell me you're talking about what I think you're talking about." Kagami said, uncomfortably.

"Yuki-chan and I don't have anything yet!" Tsukasa called to Marcus as the Gears ran up to where the Reavers were coming down.

"You two get back in the vehicle!" Marcus ordered. "You two, stay far back and do not get close to this thing!"

The two Reavers flew down to the ground, landing and standing tall, roaring. Each one had a Drone rider on its back, firing away at them.

Baird fired a shot from his Longshot Rifle, the bullet missing the Drone as the Reaver continued to move about.

"Damn, can't get a shot…" Baird complained, reloading.

Marcus and Dom fired their assault rifles desperately, trying to take down one of the Reavers themselves rather than go for the rider.

"Izumi! Hiiragi! Aim for the driver on top while we take down the Reaver!"

"RIght!" Konata pointed her pistol at the driver on top. Several of Konata and Kagami's shots hit the Locust, but it remained on top of the Reaver. "Whoa, it's not going down! What are these things made of?"

"I think we're all better off not knowing!" Baird called back, still trying to fire shots. Visibly growing frustrated, Baird mounted the rifle onto his back and reached for a Lancer, firing rapidly onto the Reaver.

The first Reaver let out a disturbing hiss, raising one of its tentacle-like limbs and swiping it at the Gears. Dom and Cole were both hit, each one being forced backwards slightly. The two swiftly regained their footing and continued shooting on it.

The clip of Marcus' Lancer emptied as he continued shooting, and so he reached for another one. As he reached for the ammunition, he heard a noise coming from the radio.

"Marcus, come in, Marcus."

It was Anya Stroud, contacting Marcus via radio once again.

"What is it, Anya?" Marcus asked while trying to continue getting shots on the Reavers.

"This might sound surprising, but…"

"There's a whole lot of grubs coming to our location?"

"Yes, how did you-?"

"Baird spotted a few of them coming, we've got Reavers here, and we're in a big damn mess."

"BOOM!"

A blast from the Boomshot came flying in their direction once again. Marcus turned and moved out of the way, managing to avoid any damage as it hit the ground and exploded, sending shrapnel all over the place.

"Damn it!" Marcus yelled, visibly annoyed.

With one last loud screech, the first of the Reavers fell over, its rider hitting the ground. Cole reached onto his back and pulled out his shotgun, firing it and destroying the rider.

A large group of Locus, led by a Kantus, had arrived and were now unloading on the Gears. The Gears could only try to dodge the incoming fire, trying to take down the Reaver at the same time.

The rider on top of one of the Reavers let out a loud yell. Two bullets landed in its chest, and it fell off the Reaver, hitting the ground hard after falling well over a dozen feet.

"I did it, I got one!" Konata said excitedly. She looked into the back as she reached for the ammo that Marcus had given her with the pistol. "Now, I think I have to put more of these bullets in here…"

Kagami turned the Boltok Pistol on the Reaver and started shooting at it. "Konata, look!" She gasped as she noticed that Marcus was trying to fight off the incoming group. "There's more of them!"

"Take THIS you ugly sumbitch!" Cole yelled, running in towards the Reaver. The Reaver turned its attention to Cole, who fired his Shotgun frantically at the Reaver's limbs. He landed a point-blank shot into its face, causing a scream. Several bullets from Dom's Hammerburst accompanied it, hitting the Reaver. After a few moments, it was no more.

"Alright, let's move!" Dom yelled, rushing over to assist Marcus and Baird. The two had thus far been the only ones holding back the large group that had just arrived. "You two, just stay back like before, and if things get bad, run!"

"Things already look pretty bad…" Kagami observed. Looking concerned, she walked over in front of the APC. "Tsukasa, Miyuki, how are you doing in there?"

Tsukasa was shaking, a terrified expression on her face. "I'm, I'm scared, sis! Please stop fighting, just stay here until its' done!"

"BOOM!"

Another round of Boomshot fire came flying in, this one from the other direction. It hit the ground near the APC, causing it to shake. Kagami, Tsukasa and Miyuki all let out a scream.

"DAMN IT!" Marcus yelled. "Dom, Cole, you two go cover that side! You two kids, just stay safe, don't worry about fighting! Just stay inside with the others! I shouldn't have asked you to fight!"

Dom and Cole rushed over, firing on the round of Locusts that had come from the other side.

"No!" Konata stood up, holding her pistol up. "I'm not letting you fight alone! We just met, I have to learn your fascinating story!" Konata ran over behind Dome and Cole, firing the pistol frantically at the incoming Locust.

"You don't know what you're doing, just stay away!" Dom yelled.

"I'm helping too!" Kagami ran over to where Marcus and Baird were, firing her pistol more cautiously into the incoming army.

Inside of the APC, Miyuki slowly started to get up.

"Yuki-chan, what are you doing?" Tsukasa asked frantically as Miyuki headed for the door.

"I… I…" Miyuki looked down at the floor, clearly not keeping her cool. "I think they need me!"

"Yuki-chan, don't!" Tsukasa cried as Miyuki jumped out.

Miyuki jumped outside and looked down on the ground. A Hammerburst was lying on the ground, the driver of the Reaver that wielded it lying a few feet away. Miyuki reached for te Hammerburst and picked it up. She stumbled a little, apparently surprised by the weight of the gun.

"Miyuki, what are you doing?" Kagami called out while she loaded more rounds into the Boltok Pistol.

Miyuki took a deep breath and dashed to where Konata was. Struggling slightly, she lifted the gun up to eye-level and started firing shots into the crowd.

Cole chuckled a little. "Heh, I guess we can't just tell 'em to stop now…"

Several of the Locust on each side were falling now, a flood of bullets flying in both directions. In the midst of the battle, a voice suddenly called out.

"FALL BAAAAACK!"

The Locust suddenly started to back off, then turn and ran away altogether.

"What the hell…?" Baird said, briefly dropping his Lancer briefly.

"Don't stop firing, take out as many of them as you can!" Marcus shouted out.

The group all continued firing. The bullets knocked a small number of the retreating Locust to the ground, but they disappeared after only a few moments.

"Alright, this isn't making any sense…" Marcus began as the group re-gathered by the APC.

Tsukasa hopped out and ran over to Kagami, throwing her arms around her. "Sis, I was so worried about all of you!"

"Wow, that was so… COOL!" Konata shouted. "It was just like my game, but real! I pointed my gun and it was like, POW POW POW POW!"

"I know, right!" Cole agreed. "It was like that the first time I fought, I like when it goes all like DA-DA-DA-DA-DA-DA! BAM!"

"Yeah, and then they're all like, 'Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!'," She said, mimicking a Locust falling over.

"Settle down, children…" A visibly annoyed Baird said.

"Yeah, really…" Kagami agreed.

"But Miyuki-san, I didn't know you had it in you!" Konata said, proudly.

Miyuki started to blush, looking around modestly. "I was just worried about everyone…"

"Alright, everyone," Marcus called out. "Let's regroup. Baird, do you think the APC's in working order?"

Baird looked over the vehicle. It had several darkened scorch marks in addition to quite a few dents in the metal. "It's taken a lot of hits, but it doesn't look like the engine was really damaged. I'd say it's good for now."

"Alright, let's get going."

Once again, Baird was steering the APC while the others sat in the back. While Konata still didn't seem the least big phased, the other girls all looked uneasy.

Marcus let out a sigh. "This isn't making any sense. The Locust don't retreat, they keep fighting until they win or they die. And then sending that many to the middle of nowhere… doesn't add up."

"It's like they're all after you." Konata suggested, fiddling with her Snub Pistol.

"If Locust were capable of going after one target, they would've done it already." Marcus reasoned. "And watch that thing, you're gonna shoot someone's eyes out. If they had the chance, they would've killed Hoffman or someone else high ranking. Even now, I doubt if they were to go after certain people, they'd pick us. There's gotta be a reason behind it."

Cole let out a chuckle. "You got nothing to say, Baird?"

"I would if I wasn't so hungry." Baird replied. "Damn jerk-offs were pushing me to drive away in the APC before I could grab any food for us."

"Oh," Kagami said from the back seat. She reached into her pocket. "I've got something." She pulled out a small red box and reached inside, pulling out a few chocolate-covered biscuit sticks. "We eat these all the time, it's called Pocky." She said, holding out a few of them in Baird's direction.

Baird took a bite of one of the sticks. "Ugh, it tastes like sawdust!" Baird griped. "Guess it's better than starving…" He grumbled, downing the rest of them quickly.

Cole reached over and grabbed one from the box, taking a bite of it. "Hey, this is pretty good, lemme get some more."

"So while we're driving, where exactly is it that you come from?" Marcus asked.

"We come from a country called Japan." Konata replied. "It has all sorts of great stuff like anime and manga, and games…"

"Konata's what they call an 'otaku'," Kagami interrupted. "She's obsessed with anime and video games."

"Oh, we got video games," Cole said. "Well, we did before the war. I was even in the Thrashball game they put out a few months before Emergence Day."

"So what is this 'anime' stuff anyway?" Baird asked from the front seat.

"It's only the best thing ever invented!" Konata excitedly said, looking ready to jump out of her seat. "They're animated shows, and they're the best! Like, there's this one, about this high school student that doesn't know it, but she controls the entire universe! And she's bringing these time travelers and aliens and espers and stuff to life and doesn't even know it!"

"Yeah, I can't picture any guy ever watching that." Baird commented.

"And there's this one, about these six high school girls!"

"…and do they control the universe too?" Baird asked.

"Nope, just regular high school students! There's the tall shy one, and the one from Osaka, and…"

Konata just kept on going, talking with lots of excitement about the thing she was passionate about. A clearly confused Marcus just looked at Cole with a bewildered look on his face, Cole replied with a similar look and a shrug.

"And my favorite is this one about these two foot tall frogs who come to Earth and try to take over, but they fail miserably, and it's hilarious!"

Tsukasa let out a giggle. "That's my favorite too!"

"Um, before you get the wrong idea…" Kagami cut in. "Konata's not exactly normal. Japan's got a lot of stuff going for it, anime and manga are just some of the things some people do for fun. All of us are in our last year of high school, and we were only a few weeks away from graduating when this happened."

Baird's voice came from the front seat again, without him taking his eyes of the road. "So is the planet of Japan pretty peaceful then?"

"Um, actually, the name of the planet is Earth." Miyuki corrected him. "Japan is the name of the country we live in. It's actually a fairly small country with a big population. There are conflicts that take place all over the Earth, but for the most part it's peaceful."

"Well, if they're no apocalyptic war going on over there, it sounds like it's probably a great place to be." Marcus replied, a hint of bitterness clearly in his voice. "Only problem is, how are we gonna get you kids back home?"

"Well, we saw some weird smoke, and when we woke up, we were here…" Tsukasa said timidly. "I don't really know how…"

"Well, let's see if we can't get you home…" Marcus said. "Alright Baird, when you get a chance stop the APC."

"Sure thing."

The APC came to a halt. Marcus stepped outside first, looking around. "I'm gonna get in contact with the base. You guys keep a lookout for anymore Locust. And you four… well, I don't want any more fighting from you unless its necessary… I shouldn't have encouraged you like I did."

A shocked look came to Konata's face. She ran up to Marcus, looking at him with enthusiastic wide eyes. "But it was so COOL! Getting on the battlefield, fighting those weird snake… people… things! It was like I was really in one of those anime where the high school students just jump in the battle and take out dozens with ease!"

A small sigh escaped from Marcus; he put a hand over his right temple. "Look, Izumi. Normally I'd just tell whatever kids were around to just fight and not to get in close like we do. But you're not from Sera, there's nothing here that's your fight. But, in the meantime, I think you all might want to put on some armor."

"Oh, you want us to try on armor, huh?" Konata chuckled. "I guess you military guys do want a chance to look at a woman, don't you?" She giggled.

An annoyed look came to Marcus' face, he let out a small groan of annoyance. "You just put it on over your clothes. You four are pretty small, the armor's adjustable but only adjusts so much. You're gonna need to put it on over your clothes."

"Hm." Konata smirked. "And here I thought you wouldn't be able to help yourselves after you got a look at Miyuki-san's chest size."

Miyuki let out an embarrassed gasp, crossing her arms over her chest and turning away.

"Oh, would you stop it, Konata?" Kagami interrupted, shooting Konata an angry look. "You can give that a rest at least now, can't you?"

Marcus stepped away from Konata and Kagami's arguing, speaking on the radio. "Come in, Anya." He called while stepping a few feet away from everyone else.

"I read you, Marcus." Anya's voice responded from the radio.

"You're never gonna believe this one…"

Marcus glanced over at the APC. Dom, Cole and Baird were supervising as Konata fitted herself with a smaller, more basic-looking piece of COG armor.

Meanwhile, in the Hollow, Queen Myrrah stood in her throne room, an inquisitive look on her face. "Are you humans absolutely sure of your ability?"

"Oh, yes, yes, of course!" Akira enthusiastically said, her voice now back to its cute-sounding higher pitch. "Back where we came from, I had the most fans and everyone just loved me! Of course, nobody likes poor, poor Shiraishi-san… but he just learns to live with that!"

"Very well." The Queen replied. "You may start then. If this fails, however, you will be used as the Locust see fit."

The Queen turned and departed the room.

Akira let out a sigh.

"Are you CRAZY?" Minoru shouted at her, flailing his arms erratically. "What were you thinking signing us up for this!"

"Look, it was either this or we were gonna be forced labor, and then probably eaten, alright, stupid?" Akira grumbled back, looking annoyed again.

Minoru let out a sigh. "I feel ridiculous…"

Both were wearing red and black Theron guard cloaks; Minoru's trailed a bit on the ground, but Akira's seemed to completely overtake her body to the point where it seemed that 'carrying' would be more a applicable word than 'wearing'.

"Just shut up and put on your helmet." Akira reached onto the ground and picked up a Theron's helmet. She put it on top of her head, the helmet slipping down and covering her head completely.

Minoru chuckled weakly. "I… think that helmet is too big."

"I KNOW IT'S TOO BIG!"

"So they don't know how they got to the planet at all?" Anya's voice asked through the transmitter.

"No… they definitely don't." Marcus let out another sigh, wiping a few drops of sweat off of his forehead.

Marcus was still observing what was going on with everyone else. All four girls were now wearing the smaller, more basic armor that Konata had put on. Konata and Kagami both had on thick gloves that went up to the fingers.

Baird looked over at Miyuki and smirked. "You might wanna think about using some of these." Baird reached for one of his pockets and pulled out a second pair of goggles. He put it on over her forehead. "There you go."

"Wow, these helmets look so cool!" Tsukasa reached into the supplies and pulled out a standard issue COG helmet.

Dom looked over. "Hm. You can wear it if you want, I'm not sure what good it's gonna do."

Cole and Baird both looked over, a surprised look on both of their faces. Dom had been completely silent for the past few days other than a few words here and there.

He looked at the four girls, a look of heavy thought on his face. _Benedicto would be their age right now… _He thought._ And I'm sure he'd be a hell of a lot bigger, too._

"Hey, sis, can you help me out here! I can't see!" Tsukasa wobbled around, the COG helmet on her head backwards. She wandered around helplessly, hitting her head on the side of the APC. "Ow! This isn't doing a good job of protecting my head!"

"Maybe you should skip the helmets." Cole chuckled, taking the helmet off of Tsukasa's head.

Marcus walked back up the group. "Hey, um, I've got something to tell you…"

The four girls stopped what they were doing and looked over at Marcus.

"Well, um… you know what, never mind, it's no big deal. Why don't you four get inside so we can get moving again?"

The four headed back into the APC, talking amongst themselves.

"Hey, Marcus." Dom began as the others walked over to him. "I thought you said we were gonna stay here for the night."

"We are." Marcus replied. "But I don't think I could've told them just yet… to get from Sera back to their planet, it would take eight years."

"Eight YEARS?" Baird put a hand over his chin. "Hm, well, I guess that gets rid of any doubts of whether or not they were bullshittin' us. There's no way they came over here in eight years time, and no regular kids' gonna know about a planet that far away."

"Well, one thing's for sure…" Marcus shook his head, then looked over at the APC where the girls were. "This sure isn't gonna get any easier. Not for them, not for us…"


End file.
